Frog gigging?

[Bama Creek Bum]

Do any of y’all go frog gigging? 2 weeks ago my 25 y.o. Son took me my 3 y.o. Granddaughter and my 6 y.o. And 11 y.o. frog gigging. The kids had a blast and so did I. We plan on adding this to our list of outdoor hobbies for the warm months.

Any experienced frog giggers that can offer me any pointers or advice? I’d like to hear y’al’s frog gigging stories.

I made a short video if you want to see it just click below:

Thanks,
Bama Creek Bum

 

[Scrappy]

Brought back some long ago memories, thanks. My best advice for getting the most fun out of it is find a guy that is scared of snakes if ya are in a snaky environment. It was a blast watching my uncle walk on water trying to get away from the fish moccasins.

 

[Marble]

I live on a gold course and there is a pond full of them. My boy and I used to go out and he would shoot them with his bow.

We also used a homemade gig. They were always delicious!

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[Mighty Mouse]

I did a lot of summertime frog gigging growing up in the Ozarks. We'd go from pond to pond walking/wading along the bank with a Maglite in one hand and an extendable painter's pole with a gig head fastened to the end in the other hand.

 

[AK Shane]

Giggin with my buddy while growing up in Missouri is some of those memories you never forget. When I was a young teen my best buddy had a couple ponds. We'd walk knee to waste deep out in the water each with flashlights and gigging poles. Shine the flashlight in the bullfrog eyes to freeze them in place. Then slowly move in and fork them with the gig. His dad would walk along the shore with a five gallon bucket and lid to drop the frogs into. Those big bullfrogs stay jumpy for awhile. His mom cooked up a mean frog leg too.

Just had to made sure you had the salt shaker on hand to knock off a few leaches when you walked back up to the house.

Dang those were fun times.

 

[Holocene]

Here's another spin on the conversation. I was leaving work a few years ago and saw some colleagues fishing in the ditch beside our parking lot. Intrigued, I stopped to ask and this is what they were up to....

I ate the fried frog legs. They were absofreakinglutley fantastic.

 

[Rob5589]

Man, not in decades. But it was a hoot for sure. Good eating as well.

 

[Two Roads]

This brought back great memories from a long time ago. We would slide along the pond edge in old aluminum canoe as kids, but dumped the gig for fishing rod w grape purple worm. Flip it, slide slowly past and the frogs would hammer it. One good thump on side of canoe and presto. We Brought home a lot of great dinners from those. Have fun.

 

[willtim]

Yep. Still do...for 50 years.

 

[livinadream]

We catch lots of frogs, my wife and I's first date, our kids love it, and they're fantastic eating. Fishing (cane) pole by day, and gig or hands by night. Here's just a couple pics, one pretty good evening of frogging, followed up by a good morning in the salt. A double with the gig, notice 2 frogs. 2 oldest with a pretty good sack of frogs.

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[Seth]

I didn’t do much gigging, but a recurve with a bow fishing setup was lots of fun and very effective. I accidentally discovered that a fly rod with a popper could be fun when the bass weren’t biting.

 

[ebonnette0118]

One of my favorite things to do! We always hit farm ponds with a flat bottom jon boat. Make a round around the pond, gig a few, then sit in silence with lights off for a few minutes until more come out.

In the day time a cane pole with a small hook with a red feather or yarn drives them crazy.

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[pirogue]

I used to, but moved to a state where it was illegal to use a devise that punctured skin, so just started grabbing by hand. Less misses.

 

[WoodBow]

For those of you using a bow, we found the bludgeon tips work the best. If you are shooting across a small pond or ditch, a lot of time you can blow them out of the water and they land on their back on the bank stunned or dead. When we were in high school we would sneak onto the country club golf course at night. That place was loaded with frogs.

 

[weekender7]

When I was younger it was a regular thing in the summer. Use a bright light, avoid passing anything including the gig in front of the frog that would cast a shadow. Get the gig close before making the jab. It doesn't take a lot of force to get the gig through the frog. Understand that the gig is not going to kill the frog instantly and you will either need a sack or a bucket with a lid, I used a feed sack, to keep them in. They are delicious but tend to move in the pan while being fried. If you don't have a barbed gig, you will need to grab them by the legs before picking the gig up or they will jump off.
22 long rifle hollow points work well too.

 

[Will83]

Cut the tendons at the joints and they won’t bounce around so much while cooking. Lol

 

[long hunter]

One of my favorite things to do! We always hit farm ponds with a flat bottom jon boat. Make a round around the pond, gig a few, then sit in silence with lights off for a few minutes until more come out.

In the day time a cane pole with a small hook with a red feather or yarn drives them crazy.

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Yep we used to catch em like that would use a piece of red material also.

 

[Wvroach]

We have a short season in WV for them, still enjoy going. We do a few overnight floats every summer set camp up at a decent pond on the river and gig after the evening small mouth bite dies off.

Only real tip I have is to be quick with the lights, go in quiet shine the bank turn your light off and get as close as possible before shining on them again.